Recently, companies in the heavy-duty trucking industry have introduced new technology to improve the operation of the trailer; however, these systems are typically limited to a few features and considered a “closed system” in that they do not easily integrate into existing fleet management systems. Closed telematics platforms developed for the commercial vehicle market by large component manufacturers have led to multiple systems being deployed on a truck and trailer. These systems are often expensive, inflexible and allow for limited functionality to address the multitude of priorities that define the focus of today's commercial vehicle fleet managers. In most cases these systems also require additional cabling between the tractor and trailer, thereby leading to compatibility issues and higher costs.
Some conventional cable systems employ a twisted pair cable to connect together various devices on a bus. This linear network generally requires that bus-connected devices be located as close as possible and that terminating resistors be placed at the far ends of the bus to reduce reflections on the line. However, such linear networks are often inflexible in that they do not allow for easy expansion of the network, once the network has been set up. This makes it difficult for fleet managers to modify or update the existing electronic networks inside of the trailer.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known to a person of ordinary skill in the art.